How a Facebook post exposed same-sex union at mass wedding

Agra: Determined to live together as a couple, a woman impersonated as the “groom” while her partner registered as the “bride” at a mass marriage ceremony organised in Agra last week. The two got married in the presence of the bride’s family members. The groom had even produced a fake Aadhaar card with the name “Kartik Shukla” to hoodwink organisers of the marriage committee. The same-sex union was found out on Sunday afternoon after one of them posted their wedding photographs on Facebook.

The women, both in their 20s, knew each other for the past two years. Sangam Singh and Rupa Singh (names changed to protect identities) had tied the knot on April 16 at Kazipada area of the city. Sangam, who dressed like a groom, was fond of wearing men’s clothes and sports a masculine hairstyle, said her mother. Rupa used to visit Sangam’s house frequently in the past to learn embroidery from the latter’s mother.

Life was going smoothly for the lesbian couple until one of Rupa’s neighbours recognised Sangam to be a woman and alerted her parents. “Rupa’s parents called us for a meeting on Sunday. As soon as we reached her house, her parents and relatives attacked me. They also refused to let her come with me,” said Sangam.

In the drama that soon followed, Rupa jumped from the first-floor terrace of her house to “save” Sangam. Police were soon informed and the two women along with their parents were taken to the Itmad-ud-daula police station.

Kamlesh Kumar Singh, station house officer of Itmad-ud-daula, said, “No complaints were lodged by the families of the women. A same-sex union is a legal offence in our country but the women are adults. We cannot stop them from living together.”